


I'm Fine

by gayguardian69



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Angst, Crying, M/M, Stress, hey guys im sorry for this, i dont know what to tag but cool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6986551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayguardian69/pseuds/gayguardian69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Ransom doesn’t even stop to think before wrapping his blanket around himself and hopping off the bunk. He crawls in next to Holster and curls into his side. Holster doesn’t push him away. He stays up, clinging to Holster, until Holsters sobs calm down and his breathing evens out.'</p><p>Sorry for this, guys...¯\_(ツ)_/¯</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Fine

**Author's Note:**

> There are not enough works of this pairing, so i decided to take the responsibility into my own hands. It's my first check please fic so go easy on me, I tried. Anyway, I hope this is okay. Enjoy :-)

Ransom let out a long groan. He’s running late for class _again_. As in, like, the third time that week, and it’s only Wednesday. Seriously, he’s having a ridiculously terrible and long week. Exams on top of exams on top of exams. Not to mention that he had just recovered from the _frickin’ flu, for God’s sake_. Also, he and Holster are fighting, which is _fantastic_ and _great._

He doesn’t even remember why they’re fighting… well, he _does_ but he doesn’t want to remember it right now.

He starts sprinting to class, because if he’s late again his professor will kill him.

He makes it seven minutes late. Thankfully, his professor doesn’t kill him, but she does shoot Ransom a glare that says she _wants_ to kill him. Ransom thinks he gets off pretty easy.

Class goes by in a boring haze of facts that he already knows and things they’ve already gone over the week before. He has a stress headache pounding behind his eyes and he really just wants to go home and _sleep_. Maybe for like a year straight.

He spends the whole class period trying to keep his eyes open and trying to just stop thinking of Holster for a goddamn second so he can concentrate. Obviously, that doesn’t happen. He feels terrible about the whole thing because, really, this fight is almost all his fault. He’s _trying_ his best, though.

His feelings for Holster are freaking him out, and he’s having trouble dealing with them at such a stressful time. He’s positive that it’s just best for both of them if he ignores Holster for a while. Just until he’s finished with exams and he gets caught up on sleep. Ransom ignoring Holster has nothing to do with him being scared, _nuh uh. No way. Not at ALL._

_Well, maybe…_

Class finally ends and Ransom is so relieved he could cry. Enrolling in a three hour long morning class was not the smartest idea he’s ever had. 

He wants to go home and _sleep_ but Holster is there and he doesn’t want to deal with that either.

He goes back anyway, because really, where else would he go? He’s too tired to work out, too tired to even stand properly. So he heads home, ready to face whatever might be waiting there for him.

Nothing, it turns out. Holster isn’t home. Actually, nobody is home. Everyones at class, he knows. Except Holster, because he doesn’t have any classes on wednesdays. Ransom shakes the worry from his head. Holster can do what he wants, he doesn’t need to tell Ransom everything. Ransom strips and allows himself to crawl into bed. He’s in dire need of sleep, and he’s sure missing one class on advanced anatomy and biology can’t hurt him too bad (it turns out that it really does… but whatever.)

He’s asleep almost the instant his head hits the pillow.

_______________________

Ransom blinks his eyes open and takes a moment to let the sleep wash off him. He checks the time. It’s four in the afternoon, meaning he slept for about four hours. He debates letting sleep take over again, but his stomach rumbles just then and makes the decision for him. Yawning, he pulls on a pair of sweats and a shirt he finds on the floor.

He makes his way downstairs and into the kitchen. The Haus is quiet and Ransom finds it a bit unsettling, he reminds himself that everyone has class. Except for Holster, who still isn’t home. Which, okay, isn’t _that_ weird. The part that is weird is that Holster didn’t text him, didn’t call him, didn’t let him know where he was going, as he usually does.

Ransom remembers their fight though, and he doesn’t blame Holster for not wanting to talk to him. It’s understandable, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

Ransom is heating up some leftover pizza when the front door opens. It’s Holster.

He looks at Ransom, then turns to head up the stairs. Holster doesn’t say a word to him. That just pisses Ransom off because, okay, maybe they had a fight but that doesn’t mean Holster has to be so _rude_ … and he should tell Ransom where he’s going so he knows Holster is safe! Ransom worries a lot, and Holster should know this by now. 

He eats his pizza quickly and then just sits at the table for a minute. It registers that he has nothing to do now, and he’s bored. He could study, but right now he doubts he’d retain any of the information. There's too much running through his mind. Besides, Holster is usually the one to help him study.

It takes him a few seconds to decide, but then he turns and runs up the stairs to the attic. This fight between them is stupid, and it’s his fault, so he has to try to fix it. 

He opens the door slowly, as if expecting to scare Holster away if he moved to fast. But he gets in there and Holster doesn’t even look up from his phone.

“Hey Holtzy, you wanna help me study a little?” Ransom voice is hoarse, which he could easily say was because of his nap... but he knows that’s not why.

Holster doesn’t even look up, just continues to tap away at his phone. 

“Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got plans,” Holster says, mumbles really, and Ransom has to stop every other thought process to register what he said.

Ransom just breathes out “Oh” and then Holster is getting up and leaving the attic without another word.

Okay, Rans would be lying if he said he didn’t tear up a little, but there is no way he’s ever going to admit that. 

Ransom doesn’t have class the next day, so he goes to sleep at nine and doesn’t bother setting an alarm. He’s tired, and sad. He wants to sleep forever.

 

_________

 

Ransom wakes up in the middle of night (Maybe one? He doesn’t know for sure) to a ruckus in the bathroom. His immediate thought is _’Holy fuck, it’s the ghosts!’_ but the bathroom door is open so he takes deep breath and looks closer. 

It’s Holster, which really doesn’t surprise Ransom. The part that surprises him is the redness in his face and the tears on his cheeks and in his eyes, illuminated by the harsh bathroom lights. 

Ransom stares for a second and then the bathroom light flicks off, and Ransom can feel Holster climbing into bed. He tries to ignore the sniffles, but after like fives minutes it drives him insane. He wants to know why Holster is crying, so he can help make it _stop_. 

“Holtzy?” Ransom calls out quietly, and he can hear Holsters sharp intake of breath. There’s a moments silence before Holster finally replies.

“What?” His voice is sharp and Ransom knows he’s trying to be tough, but the wet cracks in his voice give him away.

“Are you okay?” Ransom is worried. Holster doesn’t cry a lot, so when he does Ransom knows it’s a big deal.

“I’m fine.” Ransom might have believed him, if not for the choked sob at the end, and the way his voice wobbled when he spoke.

Ransom doesn’t even stop to think before wrapping his blanket around himself and hopping off the bunk. He crawls in next to Holster and curls into his side. Holster doesn’t push him away. He stays up, clinging to Holster, until Holsters sobs calm down and his breathing evens out. 

Ransom knows they’re going to have to talk about things eventually, so they can fix this, but for now he just wants to sleep here with his best friend and forget his worries for one night.


	2. /whatever/

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can tell Ransom everything without getting a response that’s anything more extreme than a chirp and full support. It hurts to know that their relationship is being strained by something Holster did that he isn’t even fucking aware of. He wants to fix it. He doesn’t want to think about what will happen if he can’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo sorry this took so long but i hope you enjoy!  
> (also i wrote this at like 4am and i was tired as hell so sorry if there are any terrible mistakes)

Holster wakes up with a gross taste in his mouth and someone’s elbow in his side. 

Holster’s mind registers what happened the night before and then his face is heating up in embarrassment. Holy fuck.

He groans and detangles his limbs from Ransoms. He rolls out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom. 

He spends about thirty minutes in the shower, which is quite long for him. Ransom is still sleeping when he gets out, and he takes a few seconds to actually check the time. It’s 7:37. In other words, too early.

Groaning, Holster settles back into bed next to Ransom. He ignores the water from his hair dripping onto his pillow, because _whatever_. He’s drained from last night and his pillow being dry is not one of his priorities at the moment.

He has nothing to do this early, especially now that he and Ransom are fighting. Speaking of which, he’s not even sure why they’re fighting in the first place. One moment they were chilling as usual and he was helping Rans study, then the next his best friend is ignoring him and treating him not so great. Holster had tried to confront him but Ransom yelled and got defensive, so like, _whatever_. 

Except maybe not whatever, because this was getting to Holster more than it really should. He had cried over it last night, for God’s sake! He knows he shouldn’t be this fucked up about a fight with his friend, but there’s an inkling of a thought in the back of his mind telling him that he likes Rans more than a friend and he knows it’s there. He knows how he feels about Ransom.

But he’s going to ignore it, because he’s pretty damn good at ignoring his feelings. It’s routine for him, at this point. Ransom has been his crush since freshman year, even though now Holster knows that this is probably more than a crush. Again, he’s ignoring it.

Holster thinks about telling him sometimes, but then he’s reminded that it would be just plain creepy if Ransom knew. Ransom would be creeped out if he knew his best friend, whom he had been hanging out with for years, often had dirty thoughts about him. 

Also, there was the whole cliché ‘It would ruin the friendship if he found out’ thing. Which, okay, yeah it was cliché, but it was frickin’ true!

You can’t just tell someone you’re in love with them, and have been for years, without putting a strain on the friendship. I mean, unless its reciprocated, which to Holster is a completely laughable thought.

He chuckles to himself a bit. He’s never been a lucky person, and he’s definitely not lucky enough to have Ransom. Ransom deserves better than Holster and he knows it.

Ransom is his favorite person ever, and he knows he can’t have him romantically, but he at least wants them to be friends. He needs that, at least. 

Rans is like his rock; you know? He helps keep him grounded, and at least a little bit responsible. 

He can tell Ransom everything without getting a response that’s anything more extreme than a chirp and full support. It hurts to know that their relationship is being strained by something Holster did that he isn’t even fucking aware of. He wants to fix it. He doesn’t want to think about what will happen if he can’t.

Holster’s never had this kind of a connection with someone before, and it would be a goddamn shame to lose it.

It’d kill him, probably. Which is a little extreme, but it’s how Holster feels.

It fucking hurts to lose a best friend, and to him Rans is even more than that. It’d be hella fucking painful, is what he’s saying.

So, yeah, it’d kill him. Maybe not physically, but it’d kill him none the less.

He lets out a groan, because maybe he’s cool with his feelings being unreciprocated, but he still feels like shit. What’s life without a little self-pity?

Ransom stirs beside him and now he regrets groaning so loud.

Ransom hasn’t been sleeping enough, Holster has noticed this (they might be fighting but he still frickin’ notices (and cares), okay?), and he wishes he could just help. Ransom deserves more goddamn sleep. Ransom _needs_ more goddamn sleep, it’s fucking finals week for God’s sake! 

Ransom stretches out and accidentally punches Holster in the face.

“Shit! Sorry bro, forgot I was in your bed,” and Ransom must not be awake enough to remember that they’re not on good terms, because he sounds casual, like they haven’t been fighting nonstop these past few weeks. 

“It’s fine,” Holster says, because it is fine. The punch didn’t really hurt nor leave any damage so it’s totally fine. That part is true, but he and Rans are definitely _not_ fine, though. Not in the slightest.

So Holster has the decency to get up and put pants on, then make his way to the door. Logically, this should make Ransom happy, since he’s been trying his best to avoid Holster in the past weeks.

Apparently Ransom is not happy about it, though, because Holster hears him bouncing out of bed and then there’s a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey! Holtzy, wait for a second,” Ransom wheels him around as he says it.

“What? Now, after seeing me as a fucking mess, you want to talk to me? I don’t need your pity,” because that has to be why Ransom is stopping him. He saw Holster cry and now he wants to be the good guy here.

“No, that’s not-“

“Save it, man,” Holster says, and there’s a bite to it, but mostly it just sounds sad. He’s pulling away and leaving the room before Rans has the chance to say anything else.

He may want to fix this, but he doesn’t want a conversation with Ransom to be based off pity. And it fucking hurts, because Ransom has been ignoring him and being a dick to him for weeks but the moment he feels guilty he wants to talk to Holster. And fuck that. 

Holster may want to fix this thing with him and Rans, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t mad at him. He’s mostly hurt, actually, but there’s anger there, too.

Anger at being ignored, yelled at. Anger at Ransom treating their friendship like it’s nothing.

God, he wants them to be okay, but the strain on their friendship is growing the longer this goes on and he’s not sure how easy this is going to be fixed, at this point.

It scares him. Probably more than he’s ever been scared before.

He goes straight to the fridge when he gets downstairs, because blueberry pie always makes him feel at least a little bit better. 

He eats a few bites, and is even more fucked up when he realizes it isn’t making him feel better at all. Pie isn’t making him feel better. That just tells him how much this is really affecting him. God fucking damn it.

He’s almost finished with his pie when there’s the very definite noise of Ransom bolting down the stairs. Holster knows that noise by heart, at this point, because he’s heard it so much. Usually it ends with Ransom bursting into the kitchen or the living room with a huge grin on his face because he just found out he did good on a test or just finished a class with a good grade. 

This time is different, though.

Ransom bursts into the kitchen but this time he brings desperation and anger with him, rather than excitement and happiness. 

“Don’t be a jerk, Holster!” He practically yells, and Holster would be worrying about waking people up if it weren’t for the anger bubbling up in his chest.

“Me?! I’m not the fucking jerk here, Ransom. I’m not the one who’s been ignoring his best friend for weeks, then turning around and pretending shit is just fine and normal! You’re a goddamn hypocrite,” There’s venom dripping from his words and he’s almost to the point of seeing red.  
Ransom is such a fucking hypocrite! He’s been ignoring Holster for weeks and he has the audacity to try and turn it around. _Fuck!_

“I know, and I’m so fucking sorry Holtzy! I shouldn’t have treated you like that but I needed some space and time to just think for a while. We need to talk-“

“No! Fuck you! You could’ve just _told me_ you needed space. I would have listened and backed off, but _no_ you just had to treat me like shit instead, because that’s _so_ much better. You had weeks to talk about it, you can’t just bring it up now and act like it’s gonna be so fucking easy to talk about!” His hands are shaking and now he really is seeing red.

“Holster-“

“No, Justin. You made me feel like absolute shit for weeks. I left the Haus all the time just so you could have space. I had to pretend like I had actual plans! I’m your best friend, at least I thought I was, and then you treated our friendship like it was garbage,”

“I’m fucking sorry, Holster! I’m so goddamn sorry! But I’ve been going through some shit and I just thought this would be best! I know now how wrong I was.”

They were both yelling at this point and Holster is sure everyone in the Haus is awake at this point. He finds that he doesn’t really care.

“I can’t fucking take this anymore,” Holster whispers, and then he’s walking out of the kitchen, pulling on his shoes, and walking out the front door. 

He doesn’t know where to go so he just walks. Before he knows it he’s at a nearby park, and he figures _‘whatever’_ , so he sits down there on the curb. He doesn’t have the energy in him to make it to a bench. He doesn’t really care.

His anger has drained from him, and at this point he’s just tired and sad.

He sits for what’s probably an hour, then starts to head home. He doesn’t know where else to go.

Bitty is in the kitchen when he gets home, which is unsurprising. What’s surprising is that Bitty sits him down at the table and then sits next to him. Bitty puts on hand on his shoulder and looks at him with pity. Holster hates it.

“Holster, you need to go upstairs and talk to him. I don’t know what you guys did to each other, but Ransom is beating himself up over it too much. You are, too,” Bitty’s eyes are full of too much worry and Holster can’t handle it.

“We all heard you guys yelling. I came downstairs right when you left, and he was just kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands. I helped him up and he was crying so hard, Holster. I’ve never seen him look so broken before. He wouldn’t talk to me. It looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. You have to help him, Holster. You’re the only one here who can,” 

Bitty says, then takes his hand of Holster’s shoulder and heads to the fridge. Presumably to get baking supplies.

Holster sits for a while, just thinking.

He makes his decision after a few minutes, though, and stands to head up the stairs. 

This fight between him and Ransom has to end. It’s wearing them both too thin.

Ransom’s just sitting on the floor with his head down when Holster finally gets up there.

“Rans. Rans. God, Rans, I’m sorry. This fight has been so fucking stupid and I think it’s time we talked it through,”

There’s a period of silence, then Ransom lifts his head to look at him and Holster’s heart pretty much breaks into a million pieces right then and there. He looks _terrible_. He looks so fatigued, his eyes are red, and there are fresh tear tracks on his cheeks.  
Ransom lets out a sob.

“I’m so sorry, Holtzy,” He sounds so sad and Holster can’t take it anymore. 

He sits down next to him and pulls him into a hug.

They sit for a while before Ransom’s sobs finally quiet down enough for him to speak.

“Holster, I love you. I’m _in_ love with you. I have been for a while, I think, but I just figured it out a few weeks ago. That’s why I started ignoring you. I know now that it was the wrong to do, and I feel so bad about hurting you this much, but I was so scared. _I was so scared, Holster,_ ” Ransom starts to cry again and Holster holds him tighter. 

This is unbelievable! Ransom loves him. Like, romantically!

He tries to contain his excitement as best as possible, for now.

“I’m in love with you, too. Of course I am. I have been since freshman year,” It’s such a relief for Holster to finally say, and Ransom loves him back! Holy shit!

“Really?” Rans looks at him with disbelief, like this is some sort of dream.

Holster just nods.

“God, we’re so fucking stupid,” Ransoms cackles out. Holster laughs too, because its’s 100% true.

“Total morons,” He laughs.

He asks if he can kiss Ransom, then they’re actually for real kissing. Like right on the mouth. He’s kissing Ransom. He is kissing Ransom on the mouth, and Ransom loves him. 

Holy shit.

They still have stuff to talk about, but for now kissing is good. 

They’re going to be okay.

They’re in love.

_Holy shit_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!  
> i take criticism to the grave, remember that  
> leave ur opinions and whatever tho id love to know what you think!  
> im on tumblr come say hi supergaybee.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> HEY I hope you guys liked it! Let me know if i made any mistakes! Leave me feedback and let me know if you want a second chapter and what you want to see in the next chapter (if you want one). Comments, opinions, and prompts are welcome (mean or rude comments are NOT, be nice)! You can find me on tumblr @supergaybee and on twitter @TayTayKristineB


End file.
